


you divin' in my pool

by tmwshj



Category: Cravity (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Swimming, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, M/M, Swimming Pools, but it's implied, gongtang, not love-centric, tw/mentions of drowning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:40:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23890966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmwshj/pseuds/tmwshj
Summary: seongmin wishes that he could be better.taeyoung reassures him that he’s perfect the way that he is.title from pool by woodz.
Relationships: Ahn Seongmin & Kim Taeyoung, Ahn Seongmin/Kim Taeyoung
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59





	you divin' in my pool

**Author's Note:**

> for once i'm not writing at 1am because i wrote this while procrastinating doing my homework 🤩 !! like i mentioned, this isn't really focused on getting together but instead, the two of them opening up to each other. this is my first time writing out feelings of insecurity and uncertainty, so i hope this isn't too bad to read! enjoy 🥰

to many, the taste of swimming pool water was disgusting, but to seongmin, it was his driving force.

son to a renowned olympic swimmer, it was practically drilled into his head that one day, he too, would represent south korea in the olympics – not that he minded, of course. seongmin loved swimming, it was his passion, and unlike many others, he felt safe when his body was hugged by the cool pool water.

currently 18 years old, he would be having his first of many trials in the upcoming spring of the year. to prepare him, his father, who was also his coach, had been very persistent in his trainings. despite being his father’s only son, seongmin received no special treatment when training, just like the other boys in his swim team, and trained equally hard to be offered a spot in the national team. in fact, it felt as though his father was stricter on his own son. it was a chilly october evening, and the group of nine were just about to step into the pool for their final outdoor session of the year, just before it got too cold to train outdoors.

one by one, the boys jumped into the pool to get their bodies warmed up before seongmin’s father, coach ahn, turns up. seongmin was one of the last to enter, digging for his goggles in his duffle bag next to the pool.

“hyeongjun hyung! take that!” seongmin hears a shout before the splashing of water.

“ah! kim taeyoung, you’re going to regret that!” seongmin looks up, eyeing the team who were now engaged in quite the battle, with taeyoung and hyeongjun splashing water at each other, laughing, and the rest simply choosing a side and adding to the chaos.

“yah!” seongmin yells. as the son of the coach, he was practically in charge whenever his father wasn’t around, in spite of being the youngest of the team. “shouldn’t you all be warming up by now? we have trails in 4 months!” he reprimands the boys, who all looked down to the bottom of the pool in shame.

except for one.

“oh come on! loosen up a bit and join us already!” taeyoung’s eyes met with his.

kim taeyoung. the only boy in the team that seongmin really wished would not get to compete in the olympics.

in seongmin’s eyes, kim taeyoung was a bumbling fool. all he did during training was fool around, and being the same age as taeyoung, meant that his father had specially assigned seongmin to keep taeyoung in check during training because “ _you guys would understand each other the best._ ” that turned out to a complete lie.

seongmin was quiet and reserved, only focused on working hard and getting the opportunity to compete in the olympics.

taeyoung however, was the complete opposite of his friend. _he’s loud and obnoxious_ , seongmin thinks. although the others regard taeyoung as the mood maker of the group, always managing to cheer everyone up when the mood of the team is down, seongmin found taeyoung to be a distraction, a hindrance to the group’s overall progress. so why was kim taeyoung part of the country’s elite youth swimming team?

that’s because, he’s a prodigy.

at least that’s what he felt anyways.

unlike seongmin, who had to work painfully hard in order to gain his skill, when taeyoung entered the water for the first time, he easily beat nine-year-old seongmin in a race. seongmin remembers the pure embarrassment he faced when he pulled himself out of the pool, how he was dragged to the side by his father and reprimanded for losing to a rookie student. it’s been nine years, but that feeling had never left seongmin’s mind.

it was also the reason why he absolutely resented kim taeyoung.

he stared at taeyoung in the pool. time and time again, he tried to convince his father to get taeyoung transferred to another team but always to no avail. seongmin accepts this as part of his fate, grabbing his goggles and sighing one last time before jumping in and instructing everyone to head towards the extreme end of the pool.

seongmin shakes off the feeling of resentment. he has to be focused. he can’t be distracted by anything, especially kim taeyoung.

the group of nine meet with coach ahn who was holding up a clipboard.

“alright, i assume all of you are warmed up?”

“yes coach.” the nine boys said in unison.

“good. because we’ll start off today’s training with an assessment.” coach ahn proudly announces, smacking his clipboard as an act of affirmation.

groans were heard from the boys in the pool.

-

and now seongmin is stressed. he could have been paired up with anyone else in the team, but of course, with the universe being against him, he got paired up with his sworn rival, taeyoung.

and what’s worse was that the assessment had to be a race.

it felt like déjà vu all over again, as seongmin flashes back to that exact moment where rookie taeyoung beat him in a race. it’s been nine years – he can’t let taeyoung beat him again. this wasn’t only for his own pride, but rather, for his father’s. he simply can’t lose to the same boy twice. he’s been avoiding competing with taeyoung for years, always coming up with nonsensical excuses just so he didn’t have to go against taeyoung, just so he wouldn’t disappoint his father. so far, the begging had worked, but unfortunately, his luck seemed to have run out.

“no seongmin. i’ve realised that you and taeyoung had never been assessed against each other and i have to gauge both your abilities. now go get ready, you’re next.” his father said as he nudged seongmin towards the pool.

seongmin walks towards the starting platform, only to see taeyoung already there, smiling meekly at him.

“looks like i can finally go against you! may the best man win.” taeyoung says, extending a hand towards seongmin.

out of the corner of his eye, seongmin sees his father looking straight at him, as if waiting for his next move. he sighs, reaching out unwillingly, limply shaking taeyoung’s hand.

the two boys get ready to dive into the pool. they had to do 100m of butterflies, _simple enough_ , seongmin thinks. he was confident, with the event being his best timing yet.

the two bend forward on the starting platform.

“on your marks.” seongmin hears his father say.

the other boys gather around the pool.

“this is kinda historical.” allen muses.

“our two maknaes and best swimmers… place your bets!” wonjin exclaims.

seongmin ignores them.

_the whistle blows._

seongmin and taeyoung leap into the pool.

in the first few seconds under the water, seongmin feels his heart beat faster than ever before. he had to win. he had to win. the two boys emerge from underneath the water simultaneously, greeted with the whoops and hollers from their teammates. adrenaline filled the veins of seongmin and oh, how he wanted to take a quick peek at his opponent, how he wanted to know how he was doing. was he winning? was he losing? by how much? the sounds of the splashing water drown out his thoughts as he swam towards the finishing line.

seongmin swears, by the sound of their teammates’ cheers that they reached at the exact same moment. it definitely felt like it too, as seongmin emerges from below the water, only to see taeyoung doing the exact same thing.

serim and woobin take it upon themselves to pull the two boys out of the pool and hand them a towel so that they could dry themselves off. seongmin watches anxiously as his father approaches them with stopwatch in hand, eyebrows furrowing. there’s no way he could have lost. the time in the water felt like his best ever!

“taeyoung, 1 minute and 6 seconds.”

the world seemed to come to a stop as seongmin held his breath for his results.

“seongmin, 1 minute 5 seconds.”

within seconds, the team crowded around seongmin, congratulating him and patting him on the back for breaking his previous record. seongmin felt elated, not only did he beat the brat, but also improve on his timing!

“man, that was a close one. good job seongmin.” taeyoung chirps, smile never leaving his face. _it’s weird,_ seongmin thinks. _why is he so positive even though he lost?_

his thoughts were interrupted by the booming voice of his father.

“alright boys. hope you’re done celebrating. jungmo and minhee, you’re up next. go prepare yourselves. and seongmin? a word with you.”

for the first time in years, seongmin truly feels as though he was going to be complimented by his father. he follows behind the man quietly, albeit buzzing with excitement.

they come to a stop outside the locker room, when seongmin’s father lets out a big sigh.

he looks up to see his father’s eyes brimming with … disappointment?

pinching the bridge of his nose, his father lets out a second exasperated sigh. “what are you doing ahn seongmin? you’ve been training for fourteen years now. what are you doing letting taeyoung who’s only been training for nine beat you? at this rate, you won’t be passing any trials.”

his father goes on to rant about how his new timing was only a 3 second difference from the last, but seongmin blocks all that out. _he really thought he made his father proud._

he feels his heart plummet as a lump formed in his throat. never had he ever wanted to cry so bad.

“go back to the pool. we’ll figure this out next training.” he hears his father conclude. seongmin looks down, mumbling an ‘okay’ before dragging himself back to the poolside.

he spends the rest of the training on the sidelines, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall.

-

it was 7 o’ clock and the sun was finally starting to set. one by one, his teammates emerged from the locker room, bidding goodbye to seongmin, sending him encouraging words as they left. they didn’t know what happened, but they knew that what seongmin needed now was space.

his father was no better, hurriedly leaving after practice telling seongmin to head home himself, saying that he had a meeting with some executive. seongmin really couldn’t feel more like shit at that point – he was failing at the one thing that he was supposed to be good at, swimming, and it made him wonder, was it really worth it to continue?

he stands up and lets his feet guide him to the edge of the pool, lights from the lampposts illuminating the glistening water. he sucks in a breath and jumps in lightly, allowing his body sink to the bottom of the pool.

he didn’t know it was possible to cry underwater, but it happened. he felt tears leave his eyes as they disappeared into the water surrounding him. ironic, considering he’s now crying in the one thing that was supposed to make him happy. curse this, curse that, curse taeyoung who has made his life difficult. curse himself for not being better. his thoughts filled him one by one, like the tap of a bathtub. _i’m not good enough. i’ll never be like my father. this dream is meaningless. i can’t do this._ time ticked like a bomb as his thoughts swallowed him one by one. _i’m a failure._ he thinks as his body got heavier and heavier, pressure in his chest too heavy all of a sudden.

he allows his body to go limp. funny isn’t it? being suffocated by the one thing that made seongmin feel free.

a muffled splash could be heard from beneath the water. before he realises it, he was swept up to the surface of the pool.

cool air hits seongmin’s face all at once as he sharply inhales the chlorine-filled air. lightheaded, he felt his body being thrown up towards the ledge of the pool, followed by the sound of someone coughing profusely.

“what the fuck ahn?” he hears a voice that was too familiar.

seongmin pushes himself up so that he was sitting by the ledge of the pool, staring blankly at a boy named kim taeyoung, still in the pool, clearly distressed at the situation that they were in moments ago.

seconds pass. one. two. three. and before he could realise it, seongmin starts sobbing again, shaking uncontrollably as he lets his tears fall. he cries into his hands, simply too overwhelmed by everything.

he swears he hears taeyoung mumble “for god’s sake” before pulling himself out of the pool, running off to somewhere. it’s barely been a minute when seongmin feels a towel being draped over his back.

he looks up at taeyoung, noticing that his clothes were drenched. he must have been in his regular wear before he jumped into the pool.

“well, aren’t you going to thank me?” taeyoung jokes, although it’s clear that he was still shaken up by what just happened.

“thanks.” seongmin says, gripping the towel tighter.

seongmin hears shifting next to him, turning to see taeyoung sitting at the ledge of the pool with him.

“what are you still doing here?” seongmin chokes out, eyes red after crying.

“i should be asking you the same thing.”

they stayed in silence, watching the sun slowly disappear under the horizon. the atmosphere was a soothing sort of calm despite the nerve-wracking situation they were in minutes ago, with some crickets chirping in the bushes, droning out the lull of the waves. the cool breeze causes both boys to shiver as they kicked around in the water.

seongmin hears taeyoung clear his throat.

“do wanna talk about it?”

perhaps it was the vulnerability of that moment that made seongmin nod slowly. sure, he was about to spill his emotions to the boy he despised the most, but fuck it, his life was already as shit as it was – he may as well fall all the way to the bottom.

“i don’t feel like swimming anymore.” seongmin says, talking to the pool instead of taeyoung.

“just because of what your dad said?”

seongmin turns to face taeyoung, only to be met with taeyoung frowning. _that’s new._

“how do you know what my dad said?”

“ah, sorry, i got curious, so i may have eavesdropped, just a little. sorry, by the way.”

“it’s not your fault.”

another silence.

“you know…” taeyoung drags out the last syllable. “you shouldn’t be so fixated on just making your dad proud.”

seongmin scoffs, slightly offended. “he’s an olympian.”

“wait, hear me out!”

a short silence as taeyoung fumbled with the string of his pants, thinking of the right words to say.

“i think that in life, we shouldn’t be focused on making others happy. sure, making your parents proud is one thing, but what is the most important, is to do something that makes you happy.”

taeyoung looks over to seongmin only to see him staring blankly out into the pool.

“i’ve noticed how happy swimming makes you. you smile so brightly whenever you beat your own records. when you learnt a new skill back when we were 13. when you beat me this afternoon.” taeyoung chuckles. “you shouldn’t stop swimming, because it makes you happy. you just need to live for yourself.”

another silence.

“besides,” taeyoung clears his throat, lifting himself off the ground. “i like it when you’re smiling. it looks good on you.”

seongmin feels his face go red at the comment, turning to look up at taeyoung who had an outstretched hand.

seongmin hastily clears his throat. “one question. why did you jump in? to save me i mean. you know i can swim. now your clothes are wet.”

taeyoung pulls seongmin up. “an instinct, i guess.”

seongmin tilts his head to the left, raising an eyebrow, visibly confused.

“ah, you don’t know about it.” taeyoung mumbles.

“what do i not know?”

“seongmin, do you know why i enjoy swimming?”

seongmin hesitates. “because you’re a prodigy?”

“what? no!” taeyoung scratches his head awkwardly. “i swim because it makes me feel brave.”

“i don’t understand.”

“my mom drowned when i was young. swimming to me is like being brave for her.” taeyoung smiles. a smile that had no hint of mischief, but rather, it was genuine and pure. “i jumped in because i was scared in a sense. i didn’t want the same thing to happen.”

“ah.” seongmin turns to taeyoung, giving him a tight-lipped smile, “thank you. i’m sure your mom is proud of you.”

the words spoken by the poolside was simple yet sincere, a moment for the two 18-year-olds to treasure. they walked together to the locker room, many unspoken words being exchanged between them.

seongmin tosses taeyoung an extra t-shirt. “sorry, i don’t have an extra pair of pants.” he says apologetically, looking down at taeyoung’s pants.

“meh, it’s fine. most of it’s dry by now.”

it wasn’t funny, but they laughed anyways, a comfortable air settling in between them. that evening, seongmin’s heart opens up to the first ever person in his life – kim taeyoung. ironic, but he couldn’t care less.

-

the two finally leave the swimming complex, throwing around jokes and stories as they caught up on everything that had happened for the past 9 years.

“yah seongmin.”

“yeah?”

“you don’t hate me anymore right?”

seongmin’s eyes widen. “you knew?”

“well duh, you’re not very discreet you know.”

and for the second time that night, seongmin flushes a bright red, flustered.

“don’t worry, i’m over it. do you wanna get ice-cream?”

seongmin playfully shoves taeyoung’s shoulder. “yeah, dickhead.”

“shut up you love me now.” taeyoung laughs.

seongmin stays silent. ‘love’ was too strong of a word, but his heart gently drumming against his chest tells him otherwise. “whatever, let’s go.” taeyoung laughs again, grabbing seongmin’s hand as they ran towards the mcdonald’s across the street.

seongmin is starting to think that there’s something that he loves just as much as swimming. perhaps even more.

-

**epilogue**

another day, another training session. this time, the team has gathered in an indoor swimming complex.

“yah hyeongjun hyung, take that!” seongmin’s ears perk up at the sound of water being splashed around.

he turns to find himself looking at his eight teammates again, engaging in another water fight.

“yah ahn seongmin! hurry up and come join us!” taeyoung yells from the pool.

“taeyoung, seongmin’s never gonna join us—” hyeongjun’s words were interrupted by seongmin cannon-balling into the pool, spitting out water as he rose to the surface.

taeyoung wiggles his eyebrows at the other boys, who were all visibly shocked by seongmin’s change in demeanour. “you were saying?”

“why did you guys stop? quick before my dad comes!” seongmin exclaims.

the team gushes at their youngest’s cuteness, quickly abiding to seongmin and continuing with their fight. seongmin inches slowly backwards before colliding with a body. he quickly turns to see taeyoung smiling meekly at him.

“you’re in a good mood.”

“yeah.”

the moment was cut short with taeyoung suddenly hugging seongmin’s smaller frame.

“guys, get him!” taeyoung yells, catching the attention of the other boys.

seongmin thanks the gods that his teammates were splashing water towards his face right now, because he was definitely turning red from the close contact.

young love, how confusing can it get? so new and innocent, it just makes you drown deeper and deeper.

(and yes, the only reason taeyoung called for the others was so that he could hug seongmin.)

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! follow me on twt if you want @tmwshj 🥴


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